The Slice But What If The Gossip Is Work-Related?

Remember teachers saying “Now if the two of you don’t quit talking, I’m going to have to separate you”?

Well, who should be similarly threatened at your workplace?

More on Spokane’s skyline: A reader named Bill, who enclosed a couple of snapshots taken from his high-rise apartment, described it with one adjective - beautiful. “I receive much company from out of town, and this is the most used word when they look out over the city.”

It’s almost time for the Halloween stuff: A friend reports that several local stores she frequents are still trying to unload Christmas candy.

Unempowering: We heard about a South Hill business that requires employees to punch out on the time clock before going to the restroom.

Secretaries Week gift suggestion: Figure out how to deal with minor photocopier problems yourself.

A reader wonders: “Is there anyone in Spokane who has time to start a Parents of Kids With Dreadlocks support group?”

“Spokane - Queen City of The Richest Empire in Western Hemisphere”: That’s what it says on the cover of a 1934 marketplace guide published by The SpokesmanReview and Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Thanks to Joan F. Wilson for sharing this nostalgia-soaked clinic in the art of boosterism.)

Slice reader Ken Martin wonders: What would happen if Howard Stern moved his show to Spokane?

Warm-up question: What’s the single biggest factor explaining the growing popularity of coed softball?

Oops: “I bought an expensive new dress to wear when I met a sophisticated friend I had not seen for 20 years,” wrote Pullman’s Mary Ellen Gorham. “When I saw her, I felt well dressed and very confident.”

Until she got home and discovered the price tag dangling in full view from the back of the dress.

Today’s Slice question: What would be appropriate punishment for Bloomsday cheaters? (Our idea: Require them to attend city council meetings for an entire year. Too cruel? OK, well let’s hear your suggestions.)

xxxx